Yay! I'm so glad you think my sun flare is cool! To be honest, my camera was set to "intelligent auto" so it sort of just did all the work for me! (sorry, wish I had a more technical answer other than I was just lazy and cheated ;)

Rikako - your daughter is BEYOND darling!! I want to go to a doll festival!

Cornelia - I WANT that car!

Kate - Mmmmmm....cereal. (and way to go stocking up on food storage! Now we know YOUR kids aren't going to be hungry in an emergency.)

Katie - Tranquil...beautiful...I don't think I've ever seen so many lilypads at the same time!

Sara - What?!! It doesn't fold itself?...hmmm...that DOES explain the mountain forming in the other room ;D

Rikako - What a doll ;D

Rebeckah - Adorable!! I love how her hand is doing the "no pics, please" at the paparazzi ;D

Emily - Yum!...and beautiful!

Kate - Was there any cereal left at the store? ;D Way to stock up!!

Cornelia - that has to be the coolest, funkiest car I've ever seen!

Nisa - to answer your question about multiple colours in a black and white...While in Photoshop Elements, I do a black and white conversion action in layers...and then while the layer is still open I simply erase over the areas where I want the colour to shine through. Then flatten the image, and voilà, all done! :D

Rikako: My daughter and I just had the best time reading about the Hinamatsuri festival and now she's REALLY excited about moving to Japan this summer. (Did I tell you we're moving to Japan?) She's been really unsure about the move up until now, so thank you SO much for giving me something exciting like this to share with her.

Sorry for my late response.I really want to comment daily to each of the photos, but I don't have enough time...

Well, here's brief description about the Hinamatsuri.We pray for the happiness and healthy growth of girls by looking at the dolls. The top tier is the emperor and the empress wearing costumes of the imperial court during the Heian Period(794-1192). We put it away as soon as the Hinamatsuri is over. This is because of an old superstition that families that are slow putting back the dolls have trouble marrying off the daughter.

Emily-You already found out what the Hinamatsuri is!Wow, moving to Japan!? Really??Yes, your daughter will LOVE the Hinamasuri, and there are more fun things for her and you out here.I hope the life in Japan is enjoyable for your family. It is my pleasure to share my Japnese life with you!If you have any question, ask me!

About This Blog

A few years ago, our founder, Lola, had an idea! She thought that it would be interesting to search out women living all around the world and ask them to collaborate on a blog where they could share our lives. She had always wanted to travel and see the world & this blog became a means to do so!

We have had the privilege of seeing Germany, Thailand, The Netherlands, Philadelphia, New Jersey/NYC, Hong Kong, Canada, and Utah through the eyes of the beautiful, smart, talented, funny women who live there. Some women have journeyed with us for a little while, others the whole distance so far, but all have left their mark here.

We post thrice weekly, on Monday, Wednesday & Friday, with our Linky-day being a Wednesday, when all our wonderful readers get to join in!

We feel that each culture, and each country, and each and every woman on the planet has positive, lovely, and wonderful things to share with those who will listen, and this blog is meant to serve as a forum for these formidably good things!

We are celebrating the everyday beauty of life and womanhood, and suspect that we will find that life is beautiful everywhere, and joy can be found in even the smallest things, such as a morning walk, a great cup of cocoa, the laugh (or mischief) of a child, a letter from someone we love, and of course, the joy of making a new, lifelong friend.

We sincerely hope that you will take this journey with us! It's not aimed at anything other than connecting, enjoying, and escaping to new and different places. Feel free to comment, ASK QUESTIONS, and start conversations! And please share a link to Communal Global on your blog (if you feel so inclined) and tell other women about it so that they can join in and share with us!